Movies

Roger Ebert wanted Philip Seymour Hoffman for biopic

Iconic film reviewer Roger Ebert always wanted Philip Seymour Hoffman to play him in a biopic, Ebert’s widow revealed Monday night.

Chaz Ebert told the audience at the New York screening of the new documentary about her late husband, “Life Itself”:

“Roger always said, ‘If you ever do a movie where you need someone to play me, I want Philip Seymour Hoffman.’ ”

“He’s one of the most versatile actors ever, and he also was a brilliant man, human being — just very smart,” she told the audience at the Rooftop Films screening.

Ebert said she had been talking about the possible casting at last month’s Sundance festival, where the Steve James documentary screened alongside Hoffman’s film “A Most Wanted Man.”

“I was actually at Sundance and Phil and I never got to see each other there, but some other people were talking about that saying, ‘We were going to go ask, ‘Phil, are you going to play Roger in a movie?’ So it’s just a whole thing,” she said.